Sea Dragons are arguably the most spectacular and mysterious of all
ocean fish. Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and
leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds.
Sea dragons feed on larval fishes and amphipods,
such as and small shrimp-like crustaceans
called mysids ("sea lice"), sucking up their prey in their small mouths.
Many of these amphipods feed on the red algae that thrives in the shade of
the kelp forests where the sea dragons live.

As with their smaller common seahorse (and pipefish) cousins, the male sea dragon carries
and incubates the eggs until they hatch. During mating the female deposits up to 250 eggs
onto the "brood patch" on the underside of the male's tail. After about eight
weeks, the brood hatches, but in nature only about 5 per cent of sea dragons survive to
maturity (two years). A fully grown Leafy Sea Dragon grows to about 18 inches (45 cm).

Leafy Sea Dragons are very interesting to watch-- the leafy appendages are not used for
movement. The body of a sea dragon scarcely appears to move at all. Steering and turning
is through movement of tiny, translucent fins along the sides of the head (pectoral fins,
visible above) and propulsion derives from the dorsal fins (along the spine). Their
movement is as though an invisible hand were helping, causing them to glide and tumble in
peculiar but graceful patterns in slow-motion. This movement appears to
mimic the swaying movements of the seaweed and kelp. Only close observation reveals movement of
an eye or tiny fins.

Most sources of information about sea dragons say they are found in the
ocean waters of southern Western Australia, South Australia and further
east along the coastline of Victoria province, Australia. Sea
dragons are protected under Australian law, and their export is strictly
regulated. A 1996 assessment by the Australian government's Department of
Environmental Heritage indicates "It [the Leafy Sea Dragon] is now completely
protected in South Australia because demand for aquarium specimens
threatened the species with extinction." Currently the specific law which
protects them is called the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. For a
February 2002 updated overview of the leafy sea dragon, see this
page from the Department of Environmental Heritage site.

The top image, the four images below on the left and
on the bottom row are digital still camera images. The wallpaper images
represented below are from video captures. Below these, three of the digital movies are 320 x 240 versions from
the video, 10 frames/second with titles and sound. The fourth is 352 x 240 in size, 3.5 megabytes, with music, showing three
camera views of a Leafy Sea Dragon. The fifth clip is most recent, a
full 11.7 megabytes, with 27 seconds of 352 x 240 MPEG-1 video of Leafy
Sea Dragons and music.